Emil's Dream
by Windfighter
Summary: Emil finds himself in a dream more real than he has ever experienced before. Lalli and Reynir joins in order to get him out of there.


Emil was dreaming. That was the first realisation when he opened his eyes. The next was that he had never dreamed in such vivid colours before. He stared at the bright blue sky above him for a while, before settling up, looking at his surroundings. It was a field, filled with soft grass, wildflowers from Sweden and animals grazing. He could see rocky formations further away, but they where shrouded in mist and he couldn't quite make out how far away they were. As far as dreams went, he thought, this was the best he had had since they came into the Silent World. He stretched, got up. A few of the deers looked at him, before returning to grazing.  
He looked at them for a while, content with the relaxed pace of the dream. Then he scratched his head. Didn't stuff usually happen in dreams? He didn't remember many of his former dreams, but those he did remember was packed with action and adrenaline rushes. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, certain that a troll would pop up behind him right at that second.  
Only it didn't. Slowly he opened one eye, then the other. A rabbit sniffed his shoe, but beside that it was still calm. Emil blinked, moved a step back from the rabbit, who dashed away when Emil moved. He followed it with his eyes, before he shrugged. If his brain for once wanted to give him a calm dream, he would accept this moment to relax. Maybe he could take a closer look at those misty mountains.

"There's nothing more I can do."  
Mikkel put the first-aid kit on the shelf before wiping his hands on his apron. He frowned a little after that. He'd have to do laundry again already. He took the apron off, threw it at the pile with Emil's bloody clothes before carrying all of it out. Lalli tilted his head and looked at Emil. The boy seemed awfully calm and he crept up to his bed and pulled a few strands of hairs from Emil's face. Behind him Sigrun groaned before hurrying after their medic and Lalli was left alone with Emil.  
He snuck up into Sigrun's bed, settled down close to the edge so he could keep an eye on Emil. He could hear the others talking outside the cattank. The crazy lady was going on about something again, but he couldn't understand. He jumped out of the bed again, threw one more glance towards Emil, before hurrying out after the others.  
Tuuri and Reynir still had their masks on and he could see that Tuuri was explaining what Mikkel had said inside to Reynir. She smiled towards Lalli as he settled down beside her, before continueing talking to Reynir. After a couple of minutes she stopped and turned towards Lalli.  
"Lalli, exactly what happened in there? Sigrun says she has no idea, that it was you who dragged him out."  
Lalli tilted his head again, shifted his gaze towards the building complex they had just escaped.  
"I failed."  
Emil had pulled him out of the way, somehow sensing something Lalli had missed. Teeth had grasped onto Emil's shoulder, and something sharp had pierced his stomach and lung before Lalli had been able to react. He had pulled his knife out, attacked before thinking. The troll had moved and Lalli had stabbed Emil's leg before he had managed to sink the knife into the troll's skull.  
Lalli looked at his cousin, who still had her eyes locked onto him, awaiting further explaination, but Lalli didn't offer any. He looked towards the cookie supplier and Tuuri spoke up again.  
"Mikkel said Emil lost a lot of blood. Will he be alright?"  
Lalli shrugged, turning his gaze towards the cattank. Would he? There was one way he could find out.

Emil let out a sigh and fell over to his back. As far as dreams go, this one was getting boring fast. He glared at the mountains. Upon reaching them he had also reached an invisible wall that he wasn't able to penetrate. He turned his eyes towards the sky instead. It was cloudier now, slowly turning the sky gray.  
"Please don't let it rain. I've been through enough rains while awake!"  
Eventhough it was winter it had been a weirdly mild winter and a lot of days had brought rain and hard winds instead of snow. That was probably why the trolls were so active.  
Trolls! Emil settled up, his left hand tracing over his stomach, his chest and up to his shoulder. There had been a troll. He clenched his hand around his shoulder. Only a dull pain, barely there. Of course, it was a dream.  
He heard someone shout. Words he couldn't make out and he stood up, looked around. Couldn't see anyone. The sounds came from everywhere and he couldn't pinpoint the source. A deer came closer, but turned back around when it noticed the mountains. Emil looked at them. The mountains must be dangerous. Maybe that's what the wall was for. To keep the dangers out.  
"Haha, very good imagination, but it's just a dream. There shouldn't be any walls."  
He didn't knew who he was talking to. The calm dream was getting on his nerves. He glared at the mountains again and turned his back towards them, walking back to the place where he had woken up. Once there he settled down, looked at the animals grazing. The shouting had stopped and Emil saw the animals relaxing again, started to relax himself.

Lalli rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, yawned and accepted the bowl of food Tuuri brought him. She settled down next to him, eating her own dinner.  
"Did you sleep well?"  
Lalli didn't answer, his eyes on Reynir. He contemplated going over to him, but decided against it. He had gone against Onni's wishes again though. He leaned back, took a bite of the carrot Mikkel handed him and wrinkled his nose.  
"Hey, scout-boy!"  
Lalli looked at the crazy lady who approached them.  
"Up for some scouting tonight? I know the little viking is out of commission, but that doesn't mean the rest of us have to laze around!"  
"She wants you to scout for other places to loot, but if you're not up for it after today it's alright", Tuuri translated.  
"No, I'll make it right."  
"Are you sure?"  
Lalli just looked at her with determination in his eyes and she turned to Sigrun.  
"He's a bit tired, but he says he'll so his best."  
"Good! Hey, Mikkel, make sure you get some rest tonight, I don't seem to have any other choice than to bring you along!"  
"Your trust in me is deeply moving", Mikkel answered sarcastically.  
"Lalli, are you really sure? I could probably talk to Sigrun and..."  
Lalli just got up and went back into the cattank. There was no use saying anything, they had already had the exact same conversation before. He settled down on Tuuri's bed and looked at Emil. He had tried to reach him, but there hadn't been any answer. That meant Emil was still alright. Still, he was certain the blond had gotten paler since they got back. He got back up and knelt by the other's bed. His breathing was shallow, ragged.  
"Wake up."  
Emil didn't move. Lalli poked his cheek.  
"Please wake up."  
Still no movement from the blonde boy. Lalli got up again, left Emil to his dreams. He'd return later if Emil still didn't wake up.

Emil had lost track of time, he only knew days had past because the sun had gone down behind the mountains several times. Although, time in dreams could never be trusted. You could live out a lifetime but when you wake up it had only been one hour. He had heard the shouting several times during the days, but still hadn't been able to locate it. The deers had gotten used to him now and went for walks with him, even let him pet them.  
"It's a good thing you're not out in the real world, Sigrun would want to hunt you for food."  
The shouting started again, but this time it was getting closer, he could almost make out the words.  
"Emil! Emil!"  
Emil looked around, didn't see anyone.  
"Are you there?!"  
He had wandered close to the mountain again. The deer that had followed him turned back around and Emil looked into the mist covering the mountains and spotted something red.  
"...Who's there?"  
Silence, then he heard something bang against the invisible wall.  
"Let me in, let me in, let me in!"  
"There's nothing there, just come on now."  
"It doesn't work like that, he has to let me in."  
"What do you mean? See, nothing here. Hey, no pulling!"  
"Stop shoving your foreign abilities into my face!"  
Emil slowly walked into the mist, climbed the small slope.  
"But if I pull you, maybe that'll work!"  
"No, it... ouch. I said no!"  
"Reynir?"  
Reynir turned around as Emil uttered his name and smiled widely. Emil noticed Lalli behind him, his eyes locked on Emil and unreadable. Reynir jumped excitedly.  
"You're a mage too? Why didn't you tell me? This is awesome!"  
A mage? Well, it was a dream.  
"Why yes, yes I am a mage."  
"This is so exciting!"  
"Emil, you have to fall asleep."  
Emil looked at Lalli, ignoring the pout on Reynir's face.  
"I am sleeping."  
"You're not!"  
He swore he could see tears in Lalli's eyes and he walked closer to the invisible wall. Lalli looked at him.  
"Mages guide souls to the afterlife. Don't make me guide yours."  
"E-excuse me?!"  
Emil took a step back and Reynir popped into his view again.  
"Afterlife? What? No, we're just here doing magestuff. Come in and join us, Lalli!"  
"I can't unless Emil let me-"  
The wall disappeared for a moment and Lalli fell through it, landed on the ground. He looked at Emil again.  
"You have to go back. Fall asleep."  
"Lalli, we just found him! Let's have some fun. I want to see how his space looks."  
"My space?"  
Emil looked at the two of them. This was the first time he could understand them. It was nice to be able to talk to Lalli, eventhough the Finn made even less sense then normal. Of course, dreams rarely made sense.  
"Your dreamspace. Lalli said everyone has one. Wow, yours is so colourful! Are... are those deers?"  
Reynir disappeared out into the field, running after the deers. Lalli got up from the ground and walked over to Emil. He didn't say anything for a while, Emil wasn't sure how long he waited. He was about to say something when Lalli spoke.  
"You're dying."  
"Haha, what? You're joking, look at me all living!"  
He jumped, shook his arms and legs to prove his point, but Lalli's gaze didn't lighten.  
"It's just your soul. Only mages can wake up in here, and..."  
Lalli swallowed.  
"You're not a mage."  
"Of course I am, didn't you hear Reynir?"  
"Emil, you're dying. Please go back to sleep before I have to guide you to the afterlife."  
"If I _am_ dying, and I'm not saying I believe you, how will going back to sleep in a dream help me not die?"  
"Your soul can't return to your body as long as it's awake in here. You have to get back."  
"There are so many animals here!"  
"Reynir, I'm trying to talk to Emil!"  
"You can talk later, come look at this!"  
Emil turned his eyes towards the ground. Were they telling him that this wasn't a dream? But if it wasn't, where was he? Lalli looked at him and he slid down to the ground, leaned against the rock.  
"This... isn't a dream?"  
Lalli shook his head. Emil leaned his head against the rock, looked at the cloudy sky. Lalli looked towards the invisible wall.  
"Then what is it?"  
Lalli turned towards Emil, tilted his head. Emil didn't look at him and Lalli settled down next to his friend.  
"It's a place where the souls of all living things exists."  
"And only mages can visit it."  
Lalli nodded.  
"And you're sure I'm not a mage?"  
Lalli nodded again.  
"And that means I'm dying?"  
Lalli stopped midnod, looked at his friend.  
"What happens if I die?"  
"We guide you to Tuonela."  
"The afterlife?"  
Lalli didn't need to nod. Reynir rushed past them again, squeeing delightfully at all the animals. A rabbit followed him along and Emil looked at them.  
"So how does this place work?"  
Lalli got up, pulled Emil away from the invisible wall. A thin dark hand scratched at it, and Emil could see how it almost broke through. Lalli pulled him down the slope, called for Reynir. Reynir quickly came back, looked at Lalli who had positioned himself infront of Emil. Emil's eyes was wide and he stared at the hand that was coming closer.  
"Emil, please, you have to go to sleep!"  
Emil wanted to protest. Reynir wanted to protest. Lalli just wanted to protect his friend. Emil looked at the hand, looked at Lalli and Reynir and darted away, back into the field. He threw himself into the flowerbed he had woken up on, closed his eyes. Tried to order himself to sleep, but there was so many sounds. Reynir and Lalli fighting against the hand, the deers screeching in panic, heavy footsteps coming closer.  
Then he heard Mikkel's voice.

Emil wished it was a dream. That was his first thought when he opened his eyes. His next thought was that he was dying. The pain was intense, every breath felt like razors cutting their ways through his lungs. He tried to focus his gaze on the roof, but it drifted in and out of focus. He drifted in and out of conciousness.  
"Lalli..."  
"He's sleeping. Try not to talk."  
Mikkel's voice. Emil drifted back to sleep, but woke up again. In the other beds Reynir and Lalli started moving. Emil tried to settle up, but Mikkel firmly pushed him back down.  
"You're in no shape to move around."  
Emil couldn't understand his blurred speech. He looked for Lalli, didn't know why he was worried for the other. Lalli blinked, tossed off the cover and got up, sank down next to Emil's bed.  
"You fell asleep."  
Emil didn't understand him, but Lalli was safe, his voice sounded relieved. Emil closed his eyes and sank back onto the pillow. Reynir settled up, stretched and yawned.  
"That was _so exciting!_ "  
A small smile made its way over Emil's lips before he fell asleep, allowing himself to escape the pain once more.


End file.
